Apparatus for evaporating liquids



(No Model.)

A. A. QBENTON.

APPARATUS PoR BVAPORATING LIQUIDS.

No. 309,775. Patented Dec. 2s, 1884.

INVENTUR Pm TNESSJPS 06 f @fw @MW lilNiTsn STATES u nTsNT @Trina ALBERT A. DENTON, OF BAVARIA, KANSAS. i

APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING LQUIDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,775, dated December 23, 1884.

Application filed April3,1884.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ALBERT A. DENroN, of Bavaria, county of Saline, and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Evaporating Liquids by Air, of which the following is a specification.

Figure l is a perspective view of a device embodying this invention, the external walls being removed to show the internal structure. Fig. 2 is a detail in plan of one of the slats. Fig. 3 is an edge view of one of the slats. Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the slats.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a Very large evaporating-surface which is uniformly covered with thin lms of the liquid which is to be evaporated; second, to obtain a rapid current of air which may be heated to any desired degree according to the nature of the liquid, and which in passing over the aforesaid large wet surface will absorb and carry 0H the water.

The objects of my apparatus are to place the liquids under the same conditions that green fruits are placed in the patent fruit-evaporators-that is to say, to give the liquid large evaporating-surface, and to evaporate the water by currents of air at any desired temperature.

In evaporators now in use it is found that shallow boiling-that is, boiling in shallow.

pans-gives best results, chiefly because in most cases a less quantity of liquid is exposed to the heat, and the boilingis done in less time than when in a deep vessel a thick body is heated. The action of the heat will in this latter instance be necessarily much slower. My object is to reduce shallow evaporation to its farthest limit-that is to say, the evaporation of thin films of liquid. In evaporators which boil the liquids,using either direct heat or steam-heat, the boiling-point rises as the density increases, and the degree of heat necessary to evaporate the water often injures the product.

The object of my apparatus is to evaporate the liquid at a temperature which is independent of the boiling-point or the density of the liquid, using air as the medium of heat.

In the accompanying drawings, A repre- (No model.)

sents a basin or pan which contains the liquid to be evaporatedi Above this basin is an air-chamber, B, three or four feet square, and twelve feet or more in height. At the top of this air-shaft are an upper series of sprocketwheels, C C, and their shafts, and C C represent a lower series of sprocket-wheels and their shafts near the bottom of the basin or pau A. These upper and lower series of sprocket-wheels carry the liquid-conveyers D D, made up of the compound slats or crosspieces e c, made of metal or of wood, and each composed of strips which are separated from each other by collars, as shown in Fig. 3 at S S S, so that air can pass ireely between 65 the strips, thus obtaining greatly-increased surface on each of the slats. The strips are fastened together by bolts or rivets Q, in Fig.

3, passing through the collars S. rlhe slats e c are fastened to the attachment links G G,

which are part of the chains F F, one being placed one or two inches above and the other one or two inches below the first strip, the

links G G fastened to the rst or middle strip. These chains FFpass over the sprocketwheel C C, and thus are formed the endless carriers. rlhe attachment links G G, which are preferably what is known as Ewart attachment A or K, are fastened preferably to the middle one of the slats c e, near the front edge, if the slats are wide, as shown in Fig. 2. By front edge is meant the edge of the slat first entering the liquid in the basin A, according to the direction of the motion of the carriers D D. The reason for this is because the slats e c then pass more easily through the liquid in the basin A than when the chains are fastened to the center of the slats e e, and, also, because the slats e e conform to the angle taken by the links G G, to

'which they are fastened, and when a slat e isl fastened near its front edge as it passes over the upper sprocket-wheels, C G, it opens a wider space between it and the preceding slat, and thus allows the saturated air to escape more readily from the spaces which are under the upper sprocket-wheel than is the case when the links G G are fastened to the center of the slat e.

The results above described in the use of the roo and lower sprocket wheel shafts.

liquid-conveyers will be readily obtained, because, as will be observed, the strips which compose the compound slats c e are so placed in relation to each other as to be nearer together at their front edge than at their rear edge, as is shown in Fig. Ll. The reason for this is the slats e e, when in motionv over the sprocket-wheels, pass each other with less danger of entangling or interfering` with each other, and the carriers D D can be placed more closely together, thus economizing space and also heat. This construction also tends to diffuse the currents of air more equally, and gives better contact of air with the wet surfaces. This peculiar method of construction balances the weight of the compound slat c more evenly on the chains F F, and also utilizes the spaces between the sprocketwheels C C.

F F are chains, preferably what is known.

as the Ewart link-belts, 7 and in these chains, at suitable distance apart, the slats c c are secured by the attachment links G G.

Motion is given to one of the carriers D by means of pulley H, and the motion is conveyed from one carrier to the others by gears I I or other suitable means, so that all move at the same rate of speed. The heat is derived from the furnace K, and, through the air-pipes .I and branch pipes N, is distributed to all parts of the chamber B. A flue-blower, M, may be used to drive these heated currents, if desired, through these pipes, which then passes through and between the carriers D D and out of,the top of the shaft, as is indicated by arrows. The air should enter at the bottom and on the two opposite sides of the air-chamber B, at the edges of the carriers D D, and also enter the spaces between the carriers D D and the spaces between the sprocket-wheels C and C. The temperature in the air-chamber B can be regulated by the thermometer O. The guards l? l? extend vertically from the top to the'bottom of. chamber B, and are placed between the carriers D D, and also between the upper These guards prevent the slats e e, when in motion, from interfering with each other, and allow the carriers tobe placed closely together, so as to economize space and heat.

To operate this apparatus the liquid to be evaporated is put into the basin A until the lower ends of the carriers D D are submerged. The carriers or liquid-conveyers D D being now put in motion, pass through the liquid in the basin A. Their entiresurfaces are kept uniformly wet by the adhesion of the liquid'. A current of air is forced by the fan M through the heater J and through the branch pipes N into all the spaces in the air-chamberB. Y This current of air is heated to any desired degree, and as the heated air comes in contact with the large and wet surfaces of the carriers D D it absorbs water and passes out of the top of the air-chamber B. XVhen the carriers D D re-enter the liquid, a para of the liquid remaining on the carriers is washed off and fresh liquid adheres, and this is repeated until the liquid is suiiiciently condensed. By regulating the heat, and also the current of air, any desired temperature can be maintained in the air-chamber B. The larger Jthe quantity of air which passes through the chamber B the higher the temperature of the air, and the larger the surface of the carriers D D the more rapid the evaporation will be. In some cases the use of the fan M may be discontinued, for the natural draft of air at high heat will suffice. In other cases the use of the heater J may be discontinued, for the large volume of air delivered by the fan M, acting on the large surfaces of the carriers D D, will evaporate with sufficient rapidity without the injuries sometimes occasioned by artificial heat. In dilute solutions a high degree of heat is often admissible. In dense saccharine solutions a large volume of air and low heat are preferable. A large evaporating-surfaee at a low temperature is equivalent to a small surface with intense heat, and with this apparatus it is practicable to evaporate liquids at any desired temperature.

I am aware that attempts have been made to evaporate liquids by air with rotary apparatus prior to my invention. I therefore doV not claim such a combination, broadly; but

Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination, in a pneumatic liquidevaporator, of an air-chamber, B, containingl a series of carriers or liquid-conveyers, D D, having a driving-pulley, II, and connectinggears I I I, and having compound slats e c, through and around which air passes freely, the guards P I), and the basin A, the whole connected by the branch ilues N to the airheater J, and also to the fan M, all substantia'lly as set forth and described.

2. In a pneumatic liquid-evaporator, the

combination of the series of sprocket-wheels C C and their shafts with the chains F F, containing at suitable intervals the attachment links G G, carrying the compound slats c e, with the pulley H, and the connecting-gears I I I, substantially as set forth.

3. In a pneumatic liquid-evaporator, the compound surface-multiplying slats e e, each composed of several strips which are held a proper distance apart by collars S, Fig. 3, and fastened together by bolts or rivets Q Q Q, Fig. 3, and which compound slat -is thinner at its front than at its rear edge, Fig. 4, and is attached to the attachment links G G near the front edge of said slat, and having the attachment links G G, attached to the middle strip of said compound slat, Fig. 3, substantially as set forth and described.

'4. In a pneumatic liquid-evaporator, the branch fines N which distribute the air equally and uniformly to all parts of the air-shaft B, and enter the two opposite sides of the airshaft B at the opposite edges of the liquid-conveyers D D, substantially as set forth and deveyer to enter the liquid and for free circulaseribed. tion of air through it, all as set forth.

5. In an ev'aporatn@ apparatus substan- T tially as described, a 'lquid-eonveyer oom- ALBERT A BENTON 5 posed of several pieces so united that the conveyer is narrower at the front side than at the rear, whereby facility is afforded for the con- In presence of- ORLO HUBBARD, SOYRENOUS F. LEWIS. 

